G/TFA/N/ALB/3  
 
28 April 2023  
(23-3020) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade Facilitation  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION OF ARRANGEMENTS AND PROGRESS IN THE PROVISION OF TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE AND CAPACITY BUILDING SUPPORT OF CATEGORY C DESIGNATIONS  
COMMUNICATION FROM ALBANIA  
The following communication, dated 26 April  2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Albania . 
 
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Albania  hereby notifies information on the arrangements concluded and progress made in the 
provision of technical assistance and capacity building support of the following category C 
designation, in response to Article 16 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
 
Provision  Heading/Description  Category  Indicative date 
for 
implementation  
 Definitive date for 
implementation  
 
Article 10.4 Single Window  C 31 December 2021  31 January 2024 
Donor: World Bank  
Progress in the provision of technical assistance and capacity building support:  
 
As part of the World Bank Group 's engagement with the Government of Albania, the Western Balkans Trade 
and Transport Facilitation Project provides support for Albania with the development of such an NSW and 
transition to a NSW environment. This Loan Agreement with the WB is approved in June 2019 by the Albanian 
Government and ratified by the Albanian Parliament in September 2019. In February  2020, a Unit (PIU) within 
the Ministry of Finance and Economy is set up to follow the implementation of this Project . 
The Government of Albania (GoA) is interested in the development of a National Single Window (NSW) for the 
automated processing of import , export, and transit transactions in trade. Implementation of the SW is one of 
the priorities of the Albanian Customs, considering it very important for trade facilitation and minimizing 
corruption.  
Albania has almost a complete comprehensive technical an d political attitude to support the application of a 
SW concept, but the steps to be taken in order to have a significant contribution in this direction are still 
underway.  
 
The following steps activities are developed up to now:  
• Prime Minister's Order No . 131 of 27.03.2014 "On setting up the Inter Institutional Group to implement 
the "Single Window" is issued. This group is composed by relevant institutions involved;  
• A working group was set up composed of: the Director of Procedures, the Director of Tariff s and 
Origins, the Director of Legislation, the Director of IT, the Director of Risk Analysis and the Director of 
Anti-traffic;  
• Several trainings have taken place in the frame of UNECE with the focus on national interconnectivity 
of SW. Also, a Feasibility  Study on the environment of the SW in Albania is prepared by local experts 
with the support of UNECE;  
• In the frame of the Twinning Project (an EU -IPA 2013 funded Project) for the Integrated Tariff 
Management System (ITMS ) some activities were dedicated to the national interconnectivity – single 
window. For what concerns the national domain, the interconnectivity with other government 
administrations and the system to system interoperability are important for the full ITMS  efficient 
implementation because the validity of tariff measures (licenses, quotas, etc.) requires administrative 
and technical cooperation with other governmental bodies (i.e. Ministry of Health, Ministry of 
Agriculture, etc.);  G/TFA/N/ALB/3  
 
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  • Furthermore, a review of the legal basis for the Albanian Single Window was conducted according to 
"Digital Administration Agenda of Albania 2015 – 2020";  
• An analysis of the government portal e -albania.al was done on its functionalities and IT services. 
E-albania.al port al is administered and developed by the National Agency of Information Society 
(NAIS) and serves as a gateway through which any interested person can access via electronic means 
the electronic services provided by public institutions. The e -Albania governm ental portal is linked to 
the Governmental Interoperability Platform, which is the basic architecture that enables interaction 
with electronic systems of public institutions. Currently e -Albania offers some customs services that 
collect only data and then this data is transmitted by email to the Albanian Customs Administration 
(ACA). These services don't use the Interoperability Platform defined and managed by NAIS.  
 
A recent reform of the Government Sector foresees that each public institution has to refer to NAIS for IT 
projects. Under these circumstances the IT specialists that follow Customs Projects are under the structure of 
NAIS and located within the General Directorate of Customs premises, having an  impact on the current IT 
customs projects.  
As part of the World Bank Group 's engagement with the Government of Albania, the Western Balkans Trade 
and Transport Facilitation Project provides support for Albania with the development of such an NSW and 
transition to a NSW environment. This Loan Agreemen t with the WB is approved in June 2019 by the Albanian 
Government and ratified by the Albanian Parliament in September 2019. In February 2020, a Unit (PIU) within 
the Ministry of Finance and Economy is set up to follow the implementation of this Project an d Customs is 
represented with one expert therein.  
The Albanian Customs Administration benefits an amount of USD 12 million for the development and 
implementation of:  
• The Customs Single Widow project;  
• The Development of NCTS platform;  
• The Construction  of the Joint Border Crossing Point (with North Macedonia) in Qafe Thane.  
 
Related to National Single Window System  where Customs is a lead Government Agency, the progress until 
now is:  
 
It has been created under the Order  of Prime Minister for Steering Co mmittee "Nr 104, date 07/08/2020 'For 
the Establishment Of The Inter -Institutional Group of Trade Policy Coordination And Trade Facilitation":  
1. Order of the Minister of Finance and Economy No.  16349/1 date d 21.09.2022 " ON THE ESTABLISHMENT  
OF THE INTERSECTORAL  WORKING  GROUP  FOR THE CREATION  OF THE NATIONAL  SINGLE  WINDOW  
FOR CUSTOMS,  WITHIN  THE FRAMEWORK  OF THE PROJECT  "FACILITATION  OF TRADE  AND  TRANSPORT  
IN THE WESTERN  BALKANS  WITH  A MULTI -PHASE  PROGRAMMING  APPROACH  " 
2. Draft law on proposals for cha nges to the Customs Code (for some changes in Law No. 104, dated 
31.7.2014 "CUSTOMS CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA" AMENDED BY LAW NO. 32, dated  
02.04.2015)  
3. Draft VKM (Project -decision on the creation and operation of the National Single Window for Custo ms)  
4. Report on the Legal Package.  
 
A dedicated legal Expert has been hired to support the PIU for identifying and supporting the project in resolving 
legal issues. Analysis of the existing general legislation identified that the current legal framework ha s been 
constantly improved, approximated, and modernized in line with the EU acquis and is well placed to contribute 
to the legal basis for the establishment of an NSW. In particular, the Customs legislation, the Law on Services, 
the Law on Electronic Comm erce, the Law on the Electronic Document, the Law on State Databases, the Law 
on the Organization and Functioning of State Administration, the Law on Electronic Identification and Trusted 
Services provide a solid basis to build the National Single Window.  
 
In February, the first meeting of the public consultation process with Interest Groups represented by business 
associations operating in our country was held.  In this meeting, with all government agency and business too, 
the focus was to introduce the NSW technical System ( a model of the functional structure) and the draft -Legal 
changes ( preliminary legal proposals) that are prepared and proposed from PIU to Albanian Customs and all 
other Institutions that are part/beneficiary of the new s ystem NSW. Those draft -legal proposal will pass through 
the filter of each institution and in consultation with the business also. Specifically, these proposals were 
received from a European Parliament/Council for the foundation of NSW, for Customs. This s uggestion is 
addressed to all Member States on how to adopt this Technical Proposal including the internal legislation for 
the implementation of this component. So, these legal improvements come because of a new legal directive 
from the EU.  
 
The procuremen t procedure is in the finalization of the selection of the Company that will start the activity 
WBTTF -ALB-111AB -112AB - System Design, Technical Specifications, Supervision has begun.  and National 
Single Window (NSW) Quality Assurance ". This activity is a good start of the process that this System has to 
be implemented.  
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